Learn from my mistakes! - 5 ocarina tips for beginners

If you just started playing the ocarina it can be daunting and overwhelming at the start! I know the feeling of receiving the ocarina and being super excited, and then feeling discouraged because the learning curve was steeper than I anticipated!
Know, that this is normal, and that you will suck at the beginning!
It is all part of the process.
I love the quote:
“You never fail until you stop trying.”
-Albert Einstein
Because it is so true! Even when you fail, it is only over once you give up!
Just take it slow at the beginning and you will be fine :)
Hope this tips helped and I want to wish you much luck on your ocarina journey... but most importantly... HAVE FUN!!!
If you wanted to add anything or have any questions, feel free to leave me a comment below!
BASIC TUTORIAL I FOLLOWED:
Channel: ‪@DavidErickRamos‬
Tutorial link: • How to Play Ocarina - ...
[TIMESTAMPS]
(00:00) Intro
(01:02)Tip #1: Create a good foundation
(02:42)Tip #2: Learn Music notations
(03:43)Tip #3: Focus on the basics FIRST
(05:50)Tip #4: Learn 1 easy song that you can perform
(07:09)Tip #5: Film yourself playing ocarina
(08:10)Good luck!
Credits:
All music credit goes to: ‪@PairPiano‬
IU - BbiBbi piano cover - • IU (아이유) - BBIBBI (삐삐)...
Undertale - Once upon a time piano cover: • 언더테일 (Undertale) OST -...
Maple story Piano cover: • 공부할 때 듣기 좋은 메이플스토리 명곡 ...
I use the AC Night by Noble Ocarina
I highly recommend it!
All drawn and written elements were made on "procreate"

[@ginonavarro2699]

Hello, thank you for taking the time to give me a detailed answer, I will try again and follow your advice. You made me think back of my math teacher at school about 55 years ago, same kind of advice. Thanks again.

[@jimgilbert9984]

Thank you for your wonderful video. (1) My foundation is that I discovered that have trouble holding the 12 hole ocarina. However, I've discovered that the 6 hole pendant works just fine for my needs. (2) To help me with musical notation, I created a computer program on MS Paint that lets me put ocarina tabs (like you showed us) under musical notation. I didn't like the standard tabs because they don't tell you how long to play each note. If you don't know the song, then you don't know how long to play each note or where the rests are.. I've also "cheated" some songs when I transpose those songs, moving the scale up or down by one note or two. If it's just one note that's outside the range of my ocarina, then I'll play that one note as the closest note to it. I printed up a lot of these songs to make a song book so that I wouldn't always have to go to my computer whenever I wanted to practice. I even gave a lot of these song sheets to the gut who sells ocarinas at our local Renaissance Faire (he sold little books that had songs made of those tabs, but no musical notation). (I did the same thing for the recorder, and I uploaded this program to the Music Teacher's computer at the elementary school where I used to teach.) (3) Good tip! (4) It helps if you practice with a very familiar song, one that you can sing. (5) I don't know about this one. I'd rather focus on playing the notes. Thank you again.

[@marymoocow1276]

All of this is really great advice for beginners😊. I've been playing for 6 years and as they say, ocarina takes one day to learn and a lifetime to master. It only gets better from here and I'm so happy for you finding and loving this instrument! Good luck!!

[@Nooboflife]

Thank you for your kind comment! I'm gad to hear these are good tips from someone who has been playing ocarina for 6 years! Its so true what you say! Sometimes I become a little bit too comfortable, and when I really try and challenge myself say with speed, or creating sound in a different way you realize there is soooo many more layers. Its exciting! It's probably going to take me many years to master the instrument. But part of that is accepting that fact, and to keep going! You too much luck with your ocarina journey which I'm sure is continuing :D!

[@kirilllait6860]

Thank you for great tips. Been using some of them already. My song of a choice is "Toss a coin to a witcher"

[@OcarinaCow]

Wonderful video!

[@aracelirodriguez4359]

Thanks for sharing all of this great tips 🙏❤️

[@Nooboflife]

I'm glad these were helpful! ^_^

[@ginonavarro2699]

I don't know exactly why, I just happened to watch your video and for some unknown reason I immediately ordered one. I play the guitar myself and I'm going to look online to see how it all works. Thank you in advance for perhaps a new musical love in my life. I will soon be seventy years old and have all the time in the world to discover a new instrument. Thank you.

[@Nooboflife]

I'm so happy to read your comment! Yes go for it! Ocarina is also a very portable instrument which makes it handy as well :) The sound is gentle and sweet and I always feel I can express myself and feel calm through it! I hope you will like it! You got this!!

[@michaeldavies47]

Thank you for these videos on your ocarina playing, they help inspire me with my own learning of this beautiful instrument

[@Nooboflife]

I'm happy you find the video's helpful! ^_^ I hope your ocarina learning is going well and you're enjoying it!

[@swisslegionary]

I just discovered you😅, i really enjoyed watching you and thank you very much for your precious tipps🙏🏽your are very nice and friendly🤗 wish you all the best on your journey💪🏽

[@Nooboflife]

Thank you for the kind comment ^_^ I am glad you enjoyed the video. I will keep on doing my best!

[@ZeeZee8065]

thanks for the tips❤️

[@Nooboflife]

I hope they helped! ^_^

[@TroyYounts]

Yay! I also took David Eric Ramos ' How To Play Ocarina course. I totally concur with ALL your points!

[@Nooboflife]

OMG I'm so glad you can relate!It was such a lifesaver :D

[@grauenritter9220]

lots of great points! I do have a couple of my own concepts and ideas: 1. A major thing for being new to a wind instrument is the breathing. The way you need to learn to breathe for a wind instrument or for singing is not hard but it needs to be done. The value of long tones and proper breathing is very important, and there is a special breathing that you need to do. Again, not hard but has to be done to make everything so much easier in the future. 2. I disagree with the Ocabanda style of using the right pinky to stabilize the ocarina for high notes. I prefer to rotate my thumb and balance ocarina on left pink even when off the hole.

[@Nooboflife]

Hello! Sorry for getting back to you so late, I enjoyed reading your comment you seem to know alot more than me. In all honesty I am not so familiar with the breathing techniques and I confess it's something I need to work on alot. I sometimes struggle holding the long notes because I didn't breathe properly. Thank you for the reminder. 2) Interesting! I also haven't really played around with different holds either so might give that a crack too! Thank you for taking the time to write this!

[@grauenritter9220]

@@Nooboflife you can look up tons of tutorials based on flute or singing to go over how you can best use your lungs! Its definitely more a technique thing rather than a cardio/conditiioning thing! And the best thing is that you don't even need the instrument to be practicing this! You should be able to get to 15 sec easy and reach for 20-25!

[@prtyperson]

I'm currently watching allot of videos so I can buy an ocarina in a little bit :} now I know things that I probably would have messed up, thanks!

[@Nooboflife]

Yay that sounds good! Im excited for you and its a good call to do some research before you jump into it!You will make your life a lot easier :) Don't wait too long though, at some point just go for it 🙌

[@Leo_SLA]

I've just managed to play sound 1 of David's "how to play the ocarina" series and I'm very happy that I managed to play the right notes and at the right tempo. I know it's a small thing and there's a long way to go before I can say I know how to play the ocarina, but I'd like to share this experience as your channel has helped me a lot not to give up on learning how to play it. I was having a lot of trouble even playing the low notes (it wasn't the ocarina's fault, I'm using a night by noble just like you) and after a few days of trying to blow correctly to make the notes come out, I was about to give up and accept that I wasn't born for it, but when I saw your 6 month ocarina evolution video I felt inspired to keep trying. I just want to thank you for the motivation and tips and also say that I'm really enjoying your videos, you're very friendly. Keep up the good work.

[@Nooboflife]

I'm so happy to read this comment and also so proud of you! It overjoys me that my video was of help to you and your ocarina journey! This what you are describing is not an easy thing to do! The thing with progress is, you are putting in the work, but you don't know what it will amount to, that's what makes it hard! But the key is, to just keep doing it. The progress only stops when you give up! So I'm proud of you picking it up again and keeping trying. You've got this and please let me know if there are any updates!

[@Leo_SLA]

Thank you for the kind reply! I was practicing sound 2 today, I'm trying to go slowly as you suggested. I'll keep you updated when I make substantial progress. I hope I can be able to play the stone tower temple theme from majora's mask, I just love that track.@@Nooboflife

[@silacier]

Thank you for the tips! I already recorded me playing, but just the audio, gonna try to film the next time. 👀 Also, I almost dropped my ocarina last week trying to play the F note, so the pinky technique is really important! 😂

[@Nooboflife]

Haha omg that's so relatable! At the beginning I couldn't wrap my head around how to hold the ocarina, but luckily I got the technique down now xD Yeah! I hope filming yourself will help you! I'm glad it was helpful ^^ good luck with your progress!

[@katjadangl2512]

Thank you for this amazing tipps! I just startet learning and I hope that I won't loose interest like K do in most things 😅

[@Nooboflife]

I feel you! I used to never follow through with things... this is literally one of the first things in my life I keep consistent with. Just remember even when you don't feel there's progress, believe that that the effort you put in WILL pay off. Its like believing in a future that doesn't exist yet. It only stops when you quit! I root for you!

[@BB_Kaiser]

I'm probably never gonna play the ocarina, but at least i now know 5 basic tipps 😂

[@Nooboflife]

Haha you never know 🤣 Thanks for leaving a kind comment!

[@agentfancyyancey]

Your video is inspiring! What do you recommend for a beginner ocarina to buy for someone who is just starting? I was considering getting a ocarina of time replica, but I wasn’t sure if that’s cheesy

[@Nooboflife]

Haha it's definitely not cheesy to go with the the ocarina of time replica! When I decided to buy my ocarina I had the exact same thought!. After doing some research though I decided to with the"Night by noble alto - c" ocarina which is the one I am using now. I recommend this ocarina because it is plastic but does not feel cheap (has a buttery finish). Which also means its durable. Also, even though it's a plastic ocarina, it has a very nice sound! Unfortunately I have never tried any other ocarina, so I can only vouch for the Night by Noble as a good beginner ocarina! Good luck with your ocarina Journey!

[@taxat10n1sth3ft]

I ordered my first ever ocarina last night. I decided to buy a Water ocarina by STL Ocarinas, because I know it's a great instrument and because I expect to pretty much suck at this for a while, so I need to trust my instrument to make a good sound when I'm actually doing it right 😂 I figure, if I start out with a "good-ish" one instead of a good one, I'll never know if I'm doing it right. Having said that, I've read really good reviews of the Night ocarina and seriously considered getting it instead of the Water one... But the color of the water one is just so pretty, I figure I'll want to pick it up every chance I get just for that haha

[@michaeldavies47]

The Night By Noble is highly recommended throughout the ocarinist world, I have one myself and think it should be in every ocarina players collection. I also have a ceramic alto C (the STL Dragon) and even at my very much beginner level I can hear the higher quality of sound from it. I'd say that it's worth getting a ceramic for home practice once you've gotten comfortable with the instrument but a good plastic like the Night By Noble is a must in my opinion for the ability to practice at any time anywhere.

[@TasumiMi]

5:00 - 5:09 😂

[@Nooboflife]

Moonlight misery ;-; haha

[@ginonavarro2699]

Hello, I'm really sorry to bother you, but I just need a little motivation because I can't get my fingers back on the instrument properly after playing a note. Maybe I should slow down everything a lot. A simple yes or no is sufficient. Thank you in advance.

[@user-pi2vm2gj9t]

Learn to do the song right and slow then you can incorporate speed.

[@Nooboflife]

Hello! big YES to slowing down. Like I say in the video it's important to first get the notes right. There is no point to focus on speed right now. The key is to get the notes right and if that means to go very slow, then so be it. Repetition is key and consistency. I'd say there is more value in 10 mins every day then 1 hour once a week! Maybe check out the tutorial I linked? Go through it slowly? you can do it!